JAG PANZER – New THE DEVIANT CHORD’ Album Released September 29t

US power metal pioneers Jag Panzer are set to release ‘The Deviant Chord’, (their first studio album since 2011), on Steamhammer / SPV as a Digipak CD (including poster), and double gatefold [transparent turquoise with black swirls] vinyl LP, plus download and stream, on September 29^th.

Looking back on the years between 2011 and 2013 when Jag Panzer were on the brink of calling it a day, guitarist Mark Briody recalls “Two band members quit and there was little interest in hiring new people and starting over. Introducing new musicians would have been tough, so we decided to disband.” But then the group’s strong fan base made itself heard, causing the spark to be rekindled. Briody: “We had a lot of interest in our early albums, so my band mates soon noticed that people were still listening to Jag Panzer, that the audience was still there. We started talking on the phone more and more. Some excellent gig offers arrived so we decided we should get back together.”

The resultant comeback ‘The Deviant Chord’ album is a veritable metal manifesto, containing Aa host of typically Jag Panzer style classic melodic power metal compositions. “We write the music that we want to listen to and play, we don’t write music of any style just because that style happens to be popular. We’ve always done that in Jag Panzer and we continue to do so on ‘The Deviant Chord’. The biggest difference in ‘The Deviant Chord’ is the wide range of songs on this album. We worked hard to introduce different key signatures and tempos for each track. We wanted each number to have its own unique sound and character.” All 5 band members participated in the writing process. Briody recollects that “I probably wrote seventy to eighty songs before we decided on the ten that made up the new album. Harry then joined me and both of us did demos for every song. Rikard took what Harry and I did and made every song better. He would often make suggestions about enhancing the rhythm of the song flow. John and Joey would then take this second round of demos and rearrange and make various improvements to the songs. By the time every member finished adding his input, the songs were very different from what I had originally written.”

Compelling album opener ‘Born Of The Flames’ crashes out of the speakers, firmly setting the tone and stylistic direction of strident stand out songs such ‘Salacious Behaviour’ and ‘Divine Intervention’. Divergent tracks include, ‘Long Waited Kiss’, a ballad written in waltz time, and ‘Foggy Dew’ (“a very old song that been covered over 200 times, but never like we are doing it”).
There’s no doubt that a spark has rekindled the fire in Jag Panzer, and it’s burning brightly. Briody: “The mood in the band is very focused. This album was the first time we did multiple demos for every song. So everyone has been very involved in every step. Each band member got to see a song grow and change with time. That’s very exciting for us. And we’re all excited to unleash ‘The Deviant Chord’ unto the world.”
Line-Up
Harry Conklin – vocals,
Mark Briody – guitars,
Joey Tafolla – guitars,
John Tetley – bass,
Rikard Stjernquist – drums